Mud separator for steam generating units



1952 w. CASEY 2,583, 6

MUD SEPARATOR FOR STEAM GENERATING UNITS Filed May 15, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 H g a r I m \Xu ll;

five/250i- I [Villa/r1 62758 Jan. 22, 1952 w. CASEY MUD SEPARATOR FOR STEAM GENERATING UNITS I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 Filed May 15, 1948 2 v 5 g 7 mm 3 9m mw 4 |l| R\\\\\\\\\\\\ 9 3 w n .fl. y A. 2. 4 g 1 n M m e E a. a i 2 u u 7 y i Z n n g fl y Irrazwfar William (25 flyww /w W. CASEY MUD SEPARATOR FOR STEAM GENERATING UNITS Jan. 22, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 13, 1948 3 WATER INLET 5, SUCTION IDISCIHARGE Patented Jan. 22, 1952 MUD SEPARATOR FOR STEAM GENERATING UNITS William Casey, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, assignor to Canadian Locomotive Company Limited, Kingston, Ontario, Canada Application May 13, 1948, Serial No. 26,794

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved boiler water circulating system for locomotive fire-tube boilers and other steam generating boiler units and has certain features in common with the boiler water circulating system set forth in my co-pending application Serial No. 633,307, filed December 7, 1945, now abandoned, of which the present application is a continuation in part.

One object of the invention is the provision of a thoroughly practical boiler water circulating system which is simple in design; is automatic in operation; has no moving parts; is capable of circulating a large quantity of water into contact with the relatively hot radiating surfaces of the fire box from a point in the bottom of the boiler shell where the boiler water is at its lowest temperature; is relatively free from maintenance troubles; is light in weight; and provides for eflicient removal of scale and sludge from the boiler water and also from the feed water prior to entry of the latter into the boiler proper.

Another object of the invention is to provide a boiler Water circulating system in which the rate of circulation is made directly proportional to the steam generation rate by introducing the feed water into the circulating system through a water jet ejector pump having its suction inlet connected to the bottom of the fire-tube section of the boiler shell at a point where the boiler water is at its lowest temperature and havin its discharge outlet connected to a mud separator from which the water is conducted. into contact with the water legs and crown sheet of the fire box.

Other characteristic features and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, in which i Fig. l is a side elevation of a locomotive boiler equipped with a boiler water circulating system constructed and applied in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of that portion of the boiler water circulating system through which the water is delivered to the water legs and crown sheet of the fire box.

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional View showing the manner in which the water is delivered to the crown sheet of the fire box through a spray pipe forming part of the circulating system.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a portion of the locomotive fire box showing the manner in which the boiler water is injected into the side legs of the fire box and is sprayed against the crown sheet by the water leg fittings and shower pipe provided for this purpose.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a mud separator forming part of the circulating system shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a View, partly in top plan and partly in horizontal section, of the mud separator shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. '7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a water jet ejector pump forming part of the circulating system shown in Fig. 1.

As shown in these drawings, my improved boiler water circulating and purifying system includes a water jet eductor 0r jet pump 2 of conventional design having the usual suction inlet 3, water inlet 4 and discharge outlet 5. The suction inlet 3 is connected, by a fitting 6, to a mud drum 1 positioned in the bottom of the fire tube section of the boiler barrel 8 at a point near the front tube sheet 811 where the boiler water is at its lowest temperature. The water inlet 4 is connected by a suitable fitting 9 to the discharge end of the feed water injector delivery pipe 10. The discharge end '5 of the jet pump is connected by pipe II to the water inlet l2 of a mud separator 13. The water outlet Id of separator 13 is connected by pipe l5 to one branch of a long-sweep Y-fitting [6. The two remaining branches of fitting I6 are respectively connected, by pipes I1 and I8, to front water leg nozzle fittings l9 and 20 extending into the front portions of the side water legs of fire box 2!. Pipes l1 and I8 are also connected, through front water leg nozzle fittings l9 and 20, arch pipes 22 and 23, intermediate fittings 24 and 25, and arch pipes 26 and 21 to rear water leg nozzle fittings 28 and 29 extending into the rear portion of the side water legs of the fire box. I

The water leg nozzle fittings I9, 20, 28 and 29 are preferably designed and applied so that the water supplied thereto from mud drum I3 is in- J'ected into the side water legs of the fire box in an upwardly flowing direction in streams fanning forward and backward.

A portion of the water supplied to the intermediate fittings 24 and 25 is conducted upwardly therefrom through pipes 33 to fittings 35 connected to opposite ends of pipe 31 extending transversely across the upper surface of the crown sheet 38. Pipe 31 is provided with openings 39 (Fig. 3) through which the water supplied to said pipe is directed downwardly in both a forward and a rearward direction against the upper surface of the crown sheet.

In the operation of the circulating system described herein the feed water from feed water supply pipe I!) is injected into jet pump 2 through water inlet 4 and creates a suction in mud drum 1 whereby the boiler water is drawn into the jet pump through suction inlet 3 from the bottom of the boiler at a point where the boiler water is at its lowest temperature. In this connection it will be noted that the mud drum 1 is located at the very bottom of the fire tube section of the boiler so that the circulation will be maintained even when the boiler water is at its lowest level. Moreover, this location of the boiler mud drum ensures that a considerableamount of the mud and other impurities accumulating on the bottom of the boiler shell will be drawninto the jet pump and delivered to the mud separator 13 for removal from the circulating system. The water which is thus continuously withdrawn from the fire tube section of the boiler shell at a point where it is in contact with the coolest portion of the boiler heating surfaces and is circulated into heat interchanging contact with the relatively hot heat radiating surfaces of the crown sheet and water leg walls of the fire box thereby ensuring uniform and efficient heating of the water and accelerating evaporation thereof. Since the circulating system draws the water from the lowest point of the fire tube section of the boiler it will be seen that flushing of the crown sheet 38 with water delivered by the jet pump to the openings 39 of pipe 31 is effective even under very low water level conditions.

Since therate of circulation of the boiler water is-controlled by injection of the feed water into the jet pump 22 it will be seen that the rate of circulation is made directly proportional to the rate of supply of feed water which is equivalent to the steam generation rate. This provides a thoroughly practical system whereby an appreciable amount of boiler water is continuously circulated under full automatic regulation and at relatively low cost. The invention therefore lends itself to the provision of a satisfactory force feed boiler water circulating system which is simple in design; is automatic in operation; has no moving parts; is capable of circulating a large quantity of water; is light in weight; is relatively free from maintenance and provides for removal of scale and sludge from the boiler water and also from the feed water prior to the entry of the feed water into the boiler proper. In this connection it will be noted that all the feed water is raised to quite a high temperature and passes through the mud separator 13 before entering the boiler with the result that the amount of scale and mud deposited in the boiler proper by the boiler water and feed water passing through the circulating system is substantially decreased, thereby increasing the boiler efficiency and decreasing boiler maintenance.

Since the efiicient removal of mud, scale and other impurities from the mixture of boiler and feed water during its passage through the mud separator I3 is a highly important consideration, I prefer to employ a mud separator of the design illustrated in detail in Figs. 5 and 6. As here shown the mud separator !3 'comprises an outer casing 42 provided with an upper end wall 43 which constitutes the top of a separating chamber 44. Wall 43 is provided with a central opening 45 through which the clarified mixture of boiler water and feed water passes from the separating clhamber into an overlying outlet passage 46 to which circulating pipe I5 is connected as shown in Fig. 1. An upfiow pipe 4? is centrally arranged in separator chamber 44 with its constricted upper end fitted in opening 45 and butted against a shoulder 45a afforded by the defining wall of said opening. The lower end of pipe 4'! is spaced a substantial distance above a plate 48 which closes the lower end of casing 42 and forms the bottom wall of a mud sump. Plate 48 is provided with a drain outlet 49 to which a blow-off cock 56 is fitted as shown in Fig. 1.

.A spiral strip 5| is welded to the outer surface of pipe 4'? to provide a downfiow spiral passage 5la to which the mixture of boiler water and feed water is delivered through water inlet l2 located between the end wall 43 of casing 42 and the upper end of spiral strip 5|. A vertically extending baflle 52 is welded or otherwise secured to the upper end of spiral strip 5! and is positioned to one side of inlet I2 as shown in Fig. 6. This bafile directs the incoming water downwardly along the spiral passage am.

A second upfiow pipe 54 of relatively small diameter is centrally arranged within the previously mentioned upfiow pipe 41. The upper ends of pipes 54 and 4! are joined together by suitable connecting members or plates 55 welded or otherwise secured thereto. The lower end of pipe 54 carries a downwardly flarin cone 56 underlying and spaced from the lower end of pipe 41. The lower edge of cone 56 is spaced a slight distance from the inner wall surface of casing 42 and is provided with downwardly directed lugs 58 and 59. Lug 58 serves as a positioning lug which is fitted in a complementary slot 58a formed in a lug 6| projecting upwardly from a pipe supporting collar 62 welded to the bottom closure plate 48 of casing 42. Lugs 59 of cone 56 rest fiatly on and are supported by additional lugs 63 projecting upwardly from collar 62.

The separator described herein operates on the principle of a whirlwind or cyclone separator in that the mud, scale and other impurities contained in the water supplied to separator inlet l2 are thrown outwardly toward the inner wall surface of casing 42 as the water whirls downwardly through the downflow spiral passage 58a, which has been made sufiiciently long in order that impurities will have sufficient time to be thrown out of the relatively dense liquid. The usual whirlwind or cyclone separator is designed only for solids and liquids to be thrown out of a gaseous carrying agent. The impurities which are thus thrown against the inner wall surface of casing 42 as well as those which are deposited on the sloping upper surface of cone 56 pass downwardly into the mud sump at the lower end of casing 42 and may be discharged therefrom through the drain outlet 49 and blow-01f cook 50.

The main body of the clarified water rises through the upfiow pipe 41 to the outlet passage 46 and in so doing creates a suction due to its construction at the top in the second upfiow pipe 54. This causes a portion of the water flowing downwardly through the spiral passage 51a to be circulated downwardly and inwardly over the outer edge of the cone 56 and thence upwardly through pipe 54 to outlet passage 46. This last mentioned circulation of water through the separator serves to wash the outer edge of the cone 56 clean and thus prevent clogging of the flow space reserved between the cone and the inside wall surface of casing 42.

Having thus described what I now consider to be the preferred embodiment of my invention,

aeeaiee it will be understood that various modifications may be resorted to within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a steam boiler water circulating and purifying system, a nine. separator comprising a se arating chamber having a top outlet opening and a lateral inlet opening located just below outlet opening, a main upflow pipe open at both ends and arranged in said chamber its unper open end fitted in outlet op 1 its lower open end spaced from the of chamber, a spiral strip sp' wardly around said upiiow fining a ed to the inlet opening of separating c ducted the bottom or sa second u ow pipe open at ho ranged i Inin and in spaced. relau upfiow pipe, said. second upfiow p video, at its iower a outwardiy flaring cone spaced fro l t end of the main upilow s ipe its 1 edge positioned close to out space from the earrounding wall of chamber, :sneans Ell porting second pipe and position.

2. A mud separating chamber'as set forth in claim 1, in which said second pipe and said cone are supported in position by means rigidly conmeeting the second upfiow pipe to the main upflow pipe and by cone-supporting means located in the lower portion of said separating chamber in supporting engagement with said cone.

3. In a steam boiler water circulating and purifying systenna mud separator comprising a separating chamber having a top outlet opening and a lateral inlet opening located just below said outlet opening, a main upfiow pipe open at its upper and lower ends and arranged in said chamber with the upper end of the pipe fitted in said outlet opening and the lower end of the pipe spaced above the bottom wall of the chamber,

second. ppfiow pipe open at both ends and arranged within the main upfiow pipe in spaced relation thereto, connecting members extending between ancl rigidly connecting said pipes, a cone carried by and flaring downwardly and. outwardly from the lower end of the second upfiow pipe in spaced relation to the lower end of the main upflow pipe, the lower end of said cone being 'positioned close to but spaced'from the surrounding wall or" said chamber and being provided wit; downwardly directed lugs, a cone-supporting member arranged in the bottom of said chamber and provided with upwardly projecting lugs supporting the lugs of said cone, a spiral strip carried by the main upfiow pipe and ser Lhg, in conjunction with said pipe and the surrounding wall of said chamber, to define a flow passage spiralling downwardly from the inlet opening of said chamber to the lower end of themain upflow pipe.

WILLIAM CASEY.

REFERENCES The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 292,076 Vanduzen Jan. 15, 1884 725,540 Cawley Apr. 14, 1963 72'7/l81 Stoianofi May 5, 19% 327,203 Barnum July 31, 1966 1,179,658 Rothwell Apr. 18, 1918 1,459,820 Brock June 26, 1923 1,832,885 Wade Tov. 2 1931 2,011,819 Mars Aug. 26, 1935 2,346,005 Bryson Apr. 4;, 1944 2,36%,799 Laughlin Dec. 12, 19%

2,381,760 Latham Aug. '7, 1945 2,425,110 McCurdy Aug. 5, 194'? FOREIGN PATENTS .1 Country Date 1 473,516 France Sept. 26, 191% 

